On our trip along the coast of Brittany the next stop is the Crozon Peninsula, the little middle finger of Brittany’s three pointing out west into the Atlantic. The Crozon Peninsula is part of the Armorique National Park and lies between the bays of Douarnenez (picture) and Brest.

Douarnenez was popular even in Roman times because of its protected harbour. The difficult sea journey to England could be risked starting from here. It was also a location where the Romans manufactured their indispensable Garum, a fish sauce that was used as flavouring in the whole Roman Empire.A long time after the Romans had been defeated the fish, especially the sardines, were still there. But in 1880 the fish swarms suddenly disappeared and the town that had been wealthy was plunged into bitter poverty. Changes in fishing techniques and the return of the sardines twenty years later led to the recovery of the fishing industry.Nowadays Douarnenez is France’s sixth largest fishing port. The large fish and tinning factory can be seen (better if picture is enlarged) across the bay at the right-hand end of the town.

In the deep sea bay at Douarnenez the tide brings in whole banks of shells, particularly razor shells and blue mussels (r). We also find nearby the skeleton of a heart urchin, a starfish and other shells (l).

Directly next to a crossing in Plovenez-Porzay is the beautiful 19th C Church of Saint Milliau (l). The hard granite that is used in the area allows the construction of the typical projections and other decorations on the building. We find the interior of the church unusual (r). The blue-painted ceiling gives a pleasant atmosphere as if the church nave was open to the heavens.

The Crozon Peninsula has several rocky capes with cliffs dropping down by up to 100m into the sea and sometimes fantastic rock formations. On an earlier visit we have got to know and love Point de Dinan, so today we go for a short hike around the headland.In the middle of the picture a rocky peninsular juts out into the sea for which our name was “Sleeping Dragon”, the French chose another name “Chateau de Dinan”.On the right in the distance to the north is the popular Point de Penhir with the the “Les Tas de Pois” (“Pile of Peas”) islands off the end of it.

On the way to our ‘Dragon’ we pass beautifully flowering gorse bushes. The line of bizarre rocky cliffs is broken by smaller or larger bays of fine sand or shingle. Often it it hard work to climb down to them but the reward is relative isolation on the beach.

We look back across the wide bay to another of our favourite rocky figures. This one we used to call ‘The Tortoise’. At low tide you can walk through beneath its neck, (the massive head is in the middle of the picture). The left front leg forms another arch towards us. The rocks and the water are in beautiful shades of brown, orange and blue.

Our ‘Dragon’, alias ‘Chateau de Dinan’ from the other side. On the right can be seen the rocky arch which has been hollowed out by the thundering waves over the millennia, but which still forms a bridge to the main land.

In Camaret-sur-Mer we pass the pretty harbour while looking for the RV parking site to spend the night in. Beyond the moored sailing boat there are photogenic wrecks of old boats on the shore, just as we saw them 10 years before.The old tower on the right is called the Dorée Tower. Since 2008 it belongs to the Unesco World Cultural Heritage as one of the 12 listed fortifications constructed by the famous French military architect Vauban (see Besançon).

As at Point du Raz it is now forbidden to spend the night at the end of Pointe de Penhir. Instead at the edge of Camaret a large and well laid-out RV parking site has been built which at the end of May is already well-filled.Only a few minutes away from the parking site by foot we look down at this beautiful bay in which the surfers are patiently waiting for a lift on their wave.The rocky peninsular in the background is part of the northern finger of the Crozon peninsula at the end of which there is the Pointe de Espagnol. This point extends out into the Bay of Brest forming the "Rade de Brest", a natural harbour which for centuries has been fortified as an important naval site.

The beautiful and rugged Pointe de Penhir with the “Les Tas de Pois” (“Pile of Peas”) islands off the end of it is attractive not just for normal tourists like ourselves, but also for numerous rock- and free-climbers and for sailors.

This church also has a blue ceiling (r), although in a more modern form than the one in Plovenez-Porzay (above).The impressive wooden retable (altarpiece) dates from the early 17th C and has 29 coloured panels. It is called the Retable of the 10000 Martyrs. The 400 carved figures show the Thebian Roman legion. According to a Christian tradition the soldiers were crucified by Emperor Hadrian at Mount Ararat after they had converted to Christianity.

An emblem of Brittany and especially of the Finistère Departement are the Calvaries, ("Calvaires"), which are representations of Crucifixion scenes. In Plougastel a very fine example stands in front of the church. At the start of the 17th C it was erected in thankfulness for survival after the Plague of 1598.In 1944 it was severely damaged by American bombing. After the 2WW an American officer founded a fund for the successful restoration of the Plougastel Calvary.

The scenes out of the life of Christ are not shown chronologically. Various events are shown together to represent the mysteries of Jesus’ life. Some steps at the foot of the Calvary lead up to a platform on which preachers used to stand to explain the life of Jesus based on the scenes.

Among the numerous prehistoric monuments in Finistère one especially and literally stands out. The Menhir of Kerloas is said to be the highest one still standing in France. It is 10m high and used to be 12m high before it was ‘beheaded’ by a thunderbolt. Erected on a hill at an altitude of 132m about 5000 years ago it was visible as a navigation mark from a distance of 30km.

While we enjoy a relaxed drive towards the north along the Côte des Abers we learn another pleasant side of the French mentality. Dozens of antique cars and bizarre vehicles come past us driving in the other direction on the windy coastal road as part of the Tour de Bretagne. It is usually the British who seem to specialize in crazy things like this, but here it can be seen that the French also enjoy creative absurdity.

On an evening walk I find this large but not very appetizing octopus on the rocks. I put my wallet nearby for a size comparison, and estimate the octopus’ length from the head (the bulb on the left) to the end of an arm at about 1m 20cm.

The young woman standing on the beach and sorting out her equipment reminds us of a lady dragonfly who has just hatched out and is drying her wings (l). The pretty brown dragonfly (r) we saw near the Point de Dinan may also be enjoying its first sunlight after hatching.

But even near this beach which is throbbing with modern and active life prehistory is present as well. Half submerged in the dune landscape a few remains of supporting stones and a massive ceiling stone (r) are visible in the grassed-over sand. It is the Le Ribl Gallery Tomb, to which our ancestors brought their dead about 5000 years ago. What a beautiful place to be buried!